Shaving your pubes may increase STD risk

A recent study has linked waxing and similar methods for pubic hair grooming to an increased risk of becoming infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

Researchers determined that those who frequently groom their privates can be at least three times more vulnerable toward being infected with HPV, syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV. Although there is no explicit link determining why people who shave their privates are more prone to infection, some suggest that the main reason might be the tiny cuts and sores left by razors and shaving waxes.

“More than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime,” said the American Sexual Health Association.

Shaving pubes may imply having sex more frequently

Over time, people have taken up the custom of removing their pubic hair. This has been heavily influenced by the media, as it is suggested in the report published in the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal. Because people are so attracted to what they see in movies and social networks, they have acquired new senses of what is attractive, clean, masculine or feminine, which has led to new standards of what is perceived as “sexy.”

Pubic hair grooming has also been linked to an increased number of sexual partners, as people that frequently groom their pubes tend to expect to have sexual relationships in the near future. This also establishes a partial link that may suggest why people that groom their pubes more often are more likely to become infected.

The United States has one of the highest rates of STD infection among developed countries, where almost half of the population is expected to become infected at some point in their lives. STDs are not isolated, as they oftentimes divert into more complicated symptoms such as cancer and pelvic inflammation.

The study was led by Dr. Charles Osterberg from the University of Texas Dell Medical School in Austin. He and his team reviewed 7,590 American adults aged 18 to 65, taking into account how often they groomed their private parts, how sexually active they were, and their cumulative background of STDs.

The measurement established that people who removed all of their pubic hair more than 11 times per year were extreme groomers. High-frequency groomers were those who trimmed their pubes daily or weekly. 74 percent of the surveyed individuals reported grooming their pubes at all. When it comes to genders, 66 percent of men and 84 percent of women reported practicing pubic grooming.

The participants were provided with a questionnaire where they had to state how much did they groom, the methods they used, and the tools they applied for the job, including electric and classic razors, wax, scissors, laser hair removal, tweezers, and electrolysis.

How often do people trim their privates?

The study revealed that those who groomed were younger than non-groomers. 17 percent of participants were extreme groomers and 22 percent were high-frequency groomers. Coincidentally, groomers also had more frequent sexual activity, where 53 percent of them had sex at least once per week, compared to non-groomers, of which 43 percent got laid weekly.

Extreme and high-frequency groomers were most likely to be female, and extreme groomers were always more sexually active than the other participants.

“In a nationally representative sample, U.S. women are more likely to groom their pubic hair if they are younger, white, and more educated,” said a study called “Pubic Hair Grooming Prevalence and Motivation Among Women in the United States,” published in JAMA on 2016. Image credit: https://www.couponraja.in/

When it comes to STD infection, groomers were more likely to have been infected with a secretory STI, such as chlamydia and HIV, than non-groomers. The theory is that because shaving and waxing ends up in tearing the skin at a microscopic level, these wounds are to become windows for sexually-transmitted infections. Thanks to these micro tears, an open wound can get in contact with an inanimate object, such as a public toilet seat, and result in an infection.

Researchers also suggest that sharing grooming tools can also oftentimes lead to STI transmission, and that high-frequency and extreme groomers are more likely to take part in riskier sexual behaviors compared to those who do not groom their pubic hair.

“Such a relation is plausible because the act of grooming with razors or shavers causes epidermal microtears, which may permit epithelial penetrance by bacterial or viral STIs, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and molluscum contagiosum,” wrote the study authors concerning the likely relation of STDs and pubic grooming.

Sexually transmitted infections spread mainly through infected bodily fluids, including blood, semen, and vaginal fluid. When one of these infected fluids gets in contact with an open wound or with an organ or cavity during vaginal, anal or oral sex, the person is most likely going to become infected.

Sharing tools that cause wounds on the skin such as razors and needles are also ideal transmitters of STIs. Although most sexually transmitted diseases spread through sexual activity, it is likely that sitting in a public restroom with a microscopic tear in the skin can result in an infection, even if the person has not had sex in years.

As the saying goes, the best way to avoid an STI is to restrain from having sex. But because that is not an option for many, when it comes to grooming and personal hygiene, perhaps the solution is to wait a week or so after shaving or waxing to let the cuts heal before getting up close and personal with another person.